CNN analyst Van Jones made his case on Tuesday for progressives to side with Hillary Clinton in the upcoming presidential election, arguing that the country’s character is also on the ballot this November.

“If you’re a progressive, that’s a tough thing to do, given where she’s been on many of our issues,” Jones told Young Turks host and Bernie Sanders supporter Cenk Uygur. “I say don’t vote for Hillary Clinton. I say vote for us.”

In the current political climate, Jones argued, candidates have become the focal point of political hopes, which marked a change from 10 or 15 years ago when activists “always expected the president to suck.”

“I say don’t vote for Hillary Clinton, vote for us,” he repeated. “Vote for Black Lives Matter. Vote for the DREAMers. Vote for Occupy. Vote for Idle No More on the reservations.”

That vote, Jones said, would allow the various social movements to have “the best piñata” for them against which to protest.

At the same time, Jones also argued that the black left had shown a marked weakness in being “good on principles, bad on precincts” during the primary season.

“How did black voters save Hillary Clinton from Bernie Sanders?” Jones asked. “You had a Cornell West, you had Ben Jealous, you had a Rosario Dawson, you had Harry Belafonte. You had every good black leftist out there for Bernie, and the black voters chose Hillary against Bernie. And black women were her shock troops.”

About the Author

Arturo R. García is the managing editor at Racialicious.com. He is based in San Diego, California and has written for both print and broadcast media, including contributions to GlobalComment.com, The Root and Comment Is Free. Follow him on Twitter at @ABoyNamedArt